25th March 2016

Speakers and training

There are numerous organisations that visit schools and speak about mental illness/ emotional wellbeing. This page gives information on specialist services available to schools.

Gossip School

The name of your organisation / charity: Gossip School

The type of service(s) you offer: Gossip School delivers an entertaining, poignant, timely and necessary 1 hour self-esteem class into schools, colleges and universities.

A description of the service and target benefits: Gossip School is primarily aimed at 13-18 year olds. The 1 hour lesson includes a first-hand account of a self-esteem or body confidence issue, an exploration of students' beliefs and the effect on their self-worth and decision making, as well as a section on media, advertising and airbrushing. The lesson is supported by Jo Swinson, Chairman of the All Parties Parliamantary Group on Body Image, as well as Gok Wan, who described it as 'exactly that the UK is crying out for!". In 2011, Gossip School won an award for social impact. Most importantly, however, Gossip School has been met with an overwhelmingly positive response from students and has been shown to help them with self-harm, eating disorders and bullying, as well as general confidence.

Preferred method of contact for schools to access the service(s): Email and telephone number can be found using the link above.

Heads Up

The name of your organisation / charity: Heads Up

A description of the service and target benefits: Heads Up aims to raise awareness of mental health issues within colleges and univeristies and provide an easier route to relevant information, peer and community support for students experiencing mental health difficulties. It also aims to provide this generation of students with the knowledge they need about mental health to help ensure mental health stigma becomes a thing of the past and that our mental health is well supported in future generations to come.

Preferred method of contact for schools to access the service(s): (email) acrowe@solentmind.org.uk

BEAT - Educate Plus

The name of your organisation / charity: BEAT, Educate Plus

A description of the service and target benefits: Educate Plus has been developed specifically for schools who want to update their skills and knowledge and ensure the school is active in the prevention, detection and support of students affected by eating disorders. Educate Plus offers training for school staff and workshops targeted at students and parents.

Preferred method of contact for schools to access the service(s): (email) training@b-eat.co.uk

YoungMinds

The name of your organisation / charity: YoungMinds

A description of the service and target benefits: We offer a range of courses to support emotional wellbeing in schools, designed specifically for education professionals. All our trainers are experts in the field of emotional wellbeing in schools and highly experienced in delivering continuing professional development.

Preferred method of contact for schools to access the service(s): (email) roger.catchpole@youngminds.org.uk

Young Speakers

There are also many young people who visit schools and share their experiences of mental illness. If a young person visits your school it is important that their experiences and views are treated with sensitivity and respect, especially as they may still be in recovery. Speakers are not obliged to answer any questions they feel uncomfortable with. A teacher should be present in the class at all times - it is not the responsibly of the speaker to manage pupil behaviour.